


The Bet

by fragileizy



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Betting, F/M, Marichat, aged up to almost adults because i wanted to, but he has big claws, can't play very well, chat is not a smart man, chat is too, did I mention that already?, don't @me, marinette is awesome at mario kart, mario kart wii is superior, playing mario kart while attempting to eat, rated teen because cursing, they're playing mario kart wii because all the other versions except game cube can go die, this was a christmas present
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-04
Updated: 2019-01-04
Packaged: 2019-10-03 23:02:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,182
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17293067
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fragileizy/pseuds/fragileizy
Summary: Chat's not a smart man. He makes stupid bets. He makes stupid bets with /Marinette/ who always wins bets.Marinette doesn't win this bet.





	The Bet

**Author's Note:**

> mmmMMMmm procrastinating everything to work on this for a whole night? good going, me!   
> totally worth it though.   
> writing this was fun!   
> enjoy!! <3

Chat Noir couldn’t believe that the bet worked.

He actually couldn’t believe it.

First of all-- he couldn’t believe that Marinette Dupain-Cheng would even agree with the stupid bet to begin with. Secondly, he couldn’t believe that it  _ worked. _ Marinette was smarter than this to agree with something as stupid as this-- wasn’t she? Clearly not. Abso-freaking-lutely not. Why did Marinette even  _ agree _ to this in the first place? Had she just been humoring him? That probably wasn’t far from the truth. Well, he already knew the truth. That was neither here nor there. But what was he supposed to do? How was  _ he _ supposed to know? And, well… Chat couldn’t blame himself for betting this bet to begin with. He’d been so… curious about the results these past couple of weeks. Couple of months. Couple of years. Almost a decade, really--

He just wanted to know if Marinette would be open to the idea--

And god, she  _ had  _ been. Chat hadn’t been prepared for that as an answer! Why? Why had Marinette agreed! He had expected a quick swivel of the head, a look that read  _ Chat are you kidding me? Yeah right like I’m going to bet on that-- _ and then a swivel of the head back to stuffing her face with popcorn with one hand and pwning (yes--  _ pwning-- _ Chat  _ refused _ to let that word die) him in mario kart with the other hand, and that would’ve been the end of that. But it  _ wasn’t _ the end of that. Oh no. It wasn’t the end of that at all. Marinette had  _ agreed. _ Agreed. Marinette. Marinette had agreed. That was so stupid.  _ This _ was so stupid. Betting this was ridiculous. Marinette  _ agreeing _ to this had been almost a slap to the face because it was ridiculous. Chat going through with the bet was also ridiculous! Chat  _ winning _ the bet was the epitome of confusion. Marinette  _ laughing _ because she lost the bet was the end-of-all question mark. 

What had gotten into the both of them? Was there something in the popcorn they ate that made Chat Noir go--  _ yes this is a perfect idea, I see nothing that could go wrong with this idea in the slightest, nothing is going to deter me from the fact that I’m doing something that could potentially ruin our entire relationship for the rest of our lives-- _ why did he go through with this the moment he realized that Marinette had  _ not _ in fact given him the obvious answer to his question? It was probably because Chat Noir was not a smart man. And to be fair, he wouldn’t even consider himself a man, even at the age of nineteen. Chat Noir was a teenager. He considered himself to be a teenager who knew many things. Many things. Many many things.

One of the  _ many _ things was to never get into a bet with Marinette because she would totally win against anyone and show no mercy. Regardless the bet-- regardless the  _ task. _ Betting against Marinette was never an easy thing for anyone to do. Even if he was  _ the _ Chat Noir, Marinette had some kind of luck about her that Chat never understood how a normal person could naturally possess. It was almost unnatural at how Marinette tried her hardest to win against anyone during bets. She was extremely competitive. And extremely competitive people were very interesting to get to know, in Chat’s perspective. Marinette was a very interesting person to get to know. She had some kind of addictive quality that Chat didn’t understand-- it always made him want to come back to know some more. That, and that come into Marinette’s room and being given a hot drink and a place to lay down-- whether it be on the middle of the floor and just lay down like the piece of roadkill kin he had always wanted to be-- or on her bed, watching Marinette work on homework or art. 

Another one was to not make bets as Chat Noir, because Chat Noir tended to Take Things Too Far unlike Adrien, and Chat Noir didn’t want to take this particular bet too far. As his shit luck would have it, Chat Noir was also extremely competitive. He had no idea where he got it from. As Adrien, Chat wasn’t as competitive-- but god as  _ Chat-- _ maybe it was in his nature to want to attempt to be something that he wasn’t-- that is to say, maybe Chat Noir really enjoyed the idea of attempting to be lucky in his life by winning a simple bet. Even if this wasn’t a simple bet. This was the hardest bet he had ever participated in. This was his own damn fault. Chat Noir always took things too far.

But here they were.  Marinette with her hands across her face in surprise, laughing as hard as she could be in the situation. And Chat Noir with the widest eyes he had personally ever gotten them to be, staring at Marinette’s laughing face with his darkened cheeks and--  _ wow, has Marinette always been this pretty up close?-- lord he felt like fainting-- _ surely this wasn’t good. Surely this wasn’t good for his health. For his brain that felt like it was melting out of his ears. For his face that felt like it was on fire from how hard he was blushing. He couldn’t even think correctly at this point-- his mind was so confused and befuddled, Chat felt like his brain was twisting itself in his head to look like an abstract painting. Chat agreed with the idea that he was an idiot. He was not a smart man. He was a hopeful man. But not even Chat Noir had hoped that this bet would happen. That it would  _ work. _ That it would work and Marinette would laugh and giggle and look at him with pretty blue eyes and congratulate him for winning, twisting his brain and his thoughts into whatever this  was. And it did. And it worked. Chat Noir had actually won the bet. He didn’t know if that was a good thing or a bad thing. And Chat didn’t know whether to scream in happiness or dissolve into Marinette’s bedsheets, never to be seen again.

“Hey Princess,” Chat nudged her side with one of his elbows, concentrating hard onto the tv with a blushed face and a wry smile on his mouth. Marinette spared him a glance from the tv screen, reaching over the bowl in between them to grab a fistfull of popcorn. She gave him a daring look, full of scrunched eyebrows and gleaming eyes, sending Chat into a fitfull of embarrassment and a quick attempt to keep his eyes focused on the screen of the tv. God, why had this idea even popped into his head? Sure, Chat didn’t  _ mind _ the idea. In fact, he relished in it immediately. This was a good idea. Sort of. Well, it wasn’t a bad idea. But it wasn’t a good one either.

Whatever.

“What’s up, kitty?” Marinette glanced back at the screen, attempting to wipe her left hand clean of any grease on her pajama pants before pressing the left trigger on her controller all in a flat second. Chat tried his best to avoid the onslaught of red shells pulverising his poor character on the screen, but with his giant claws and the wii remote being perfectly sized for absolutely nothing-- it was like attempting to run away in a dream. The more Chat Noir struggled to avoid the shells the easier it was for Marinette to target him. He would’ve laughed at his predicament if it wasn’t for the fact Marinette was  _ way _ too good at this game for someone who had picked it up a couple of months prior to this day. Chat Noir wasn’t happy with this predicament, and would’ve been more upset at how terrible his losses were piling up if it wasn’t for the fact that he had other pressing issues in his mind. Like this bet. This dumb bet. What a dumbass bet.

“I have a proposition.”

Marinette giggled. Took another swipe at the basket of popcorn between them, stuffing the palmful of kernels  in her face, twisting the remote to the side to avoid a sandpit in the game. She missed it by a couple of inches, and shook her remote to attempt to go faster. “Does the proposition include you losing to another round at Mario Kart?”

They were in her room-- huddled together as close as possible while they stared at the tiny monitor that was a couple of feet away while they hauled ass on a video game. They both had weekly tournaments in this game-- and more often than not it was neck and neck. Because of this idea that had been tumbling around in the empty vat of Chat Noir’s head called  _ the brain, _ however, Marinette was winning by a landslide. It would take an absolute miracle for Chat Noir to catch up. He didn’t know if there was any chance of catching up.

Chat Noir was in his suit, of course, but he had pulled off his shoes the moment he had gotten into the room. Marinette enjoyed being in tank-top pajamas along with loose hair whenever he was here-- which was really cool because he could see all of the definition in her arms whenever she moved-- but it was also really bad because  _ holy shit, he could totally see all the definitions in her arms whenever she moved-- _ and boy oh boy did Marinette have strong looking arms. It was beautiful and amazing. And it distracted Chat to no end. Not that he was complaining.

Most of the time.

And the look Marinette had with loose hair--  _ lord-- _ it should’ve been illegal for Marinette to look so genuinely adorable with her hair down. Thank  _ god _ she never did that in school-- Chat would have so many problems focusing whenever Marinette would have to go up in front of class and present something because she was the president of the classroom. Small miracles that for some reason Marinette put her hair up every day to school.

Chat laughed in excitement, nearly hopping up in surprise when he somehow got enough random drag on his kart to speed up against Marinette, who was now in second place. She growled to herself, whooping when she found an item block to use against him. “Now now, Princess. I don’t  _ always _ lose.”

“What’s the proposition?” Marinette laughed, clicking away at the buttons to throw items in front of Chat to make him fall off the stage. A banana peel hit, spinning Chat off track, and Marinette took the lead. She bounced on her place on the bed, moving Chat along with her, and she gave him a giddy and excited laugh-- this was for first place this round, after all. She took another swipe of popcorn, reaching into the bowl at the same time he did, and pulled kernels out of his hands with such urgency that Chat Noir almost took his eyes off the screen to look at her at why she had done it so quickly. She shoveled the popcorn into her mouth, and Chat soon followed with another scoopful of his own hand. He crunched as loudly as possible to get her to look at him and scowl. Marinette  _ hated _ the sound of crunching. This gave him an opportunity to look at her straight in the eyes and chew as loudly as possible to make her lose focus. Marinette gave him the stereotypical look, scrunching her nose at the sound. She scrubbed the palms of her hands across her pajama pants-- the one with the cute cat faces that  _ totally weren’t bought because of you, Chat, stop looking at them, I bought them because they were cute unlike you-- _ the pajama pants that Chat adored.

Chat gave a breathless laugh in her direction and took a deep breath, lazily turning his head back to the tv and grabbing another item block, “What if we bet?”

“Bet on  _ what, _ exactly?”

“What if we,” Ah-- yes-- Chat was attempting to not stutter over his words but it was  _ hard-- _ he didn’t have any  _ practice _ with this-- “What if-- we-- bet--”

Marinette giggled. It sounded like angels to Chat’s two pairs of ears. “Chat, are you choking on something?”

Chat laughed again. Why was this making him anxious? “No. I’m just working up the courage to say the bet.”

Oh. Yes. That peaked Marinette’s interest. Marinette spared him a glance again, knowing that if she kept her controller straight, she’d be down at the finish line. She didn’t realize that Chat Noir was furiously pressing the speed up button, attempting to pass her. He wasn’t sure he was going to make it in time. “Ohhh. It sounds like you’re having a tough time admitting that it might be too much for you. Bet on what, Chat?”

Here went nothing. Here went everything. Chat was not a smart man. No, he wasn’t a smart man at  _ all. _ So he took another swipe of popcorn out of the bowl, stuffing it into his face and his throat so that he didn’t have to face the fact that he was saying this  _ out loud. _ “I bet you-- with your consent of course-- that I can kiss you by the end of the night.”

Here was the part where Marinette would give him a look. Give him a _look._ _The look._ A look that said _are you an idiot?_ A look that said _Chat, no seriously, are you an idiot?_ A look that screamed _uhm are you joking? of course not I’m not going to bet that with you. I’m not gonna bet that with you even if you were the last man alive._ Chat waited for the no! He waited for the as if! He waited for that yeah maybe sometime in the next century! He waited for the uhm no! He waited for the Chat get out of my house I told you that flirting like that is totally out of the question! He _hadn’t_ been waiting-- and nearly had an aneurism-- for the laughter that followed instead. Why was she laughing? “Sure, okay. Sounds good.”

“You-- you’re  _ agreeing?”  _ Chat nearly hacked up bits and pieces of popcorn out of his throat.

“Uhm, yeah?” Marinette blushed, looking at the tv with a distant look on her face. She blinked owlishly when Chat Noir actually passed her like a bullet in the game, slamming into first place and passing the finish line. Marinette gaped. She hadn’t even realized that Chat Noir had been so close in the first place… “Wow. Lucky win, kitty!”

“Wait--” Chat put down his controller, turning to look at her. He didn’t bother looking at the screen that had his character dancing in happiness for winning first place. His suit’s ear flickered at the joyful music immitting from the screen. “You’re seriously-- you’re seriously  _ agreeing? You’re agreeing to this bet?” _

“Why not?” Marinette laughed, and Chat  _ swore _ he saw a blush staining her cheeks. Why was she blushing? “I don’t have anything to lose. I usually win bets anyways, so it’s not like I’m worried.”

“But you’re-- you’re totally okay with the fact that you-- you know that you could  _ lose this bet, _ right?” Chat scrunched his eyebrows at her, his mask pulling at all the wrong places, attempting to get her to realize the consequences of what would happen if she would actually agree to the bet. “You’re  _ okay _ with me potentially kissing you, Princess?”

“As much as I wish I didn’t have to say this so obviously,” Marinette continued to laugh, not one sign of her letting up her laughter, “but I wouldn’t mind it.”

Chat let a long pause drift in between the conversation, looking at the heavy space in between them. And then he grabbed another fistful of popcorn, splattering it into the empty cavity of his mouth. Maybe the popcorn would end his unending question mark that was twisting up his head. The buttery texture did nothing to solve his tongue-twisted brain. Seriously, why did she say yes? “You’re kidding.”

“I swear to you I’m not,”

“You  _ have _ to be kidding.”

Marinette raised a brow at him. “Why did you ask to bet on this if you  _ wanted _ a no?”

“I thought I was going to  _ get _ a no!” Chat made a movement with his hands that he wasn’t really sure what to describe it as. “I hadn’t even considered a yes--”

“Why?”

“Cause I don’t know--” Chat gestured to the both of them and the empty space in between them with another hand movement that didn’t make much sense. “Cause we’re-- well, we’re friends.”

Marinette snorted. It was entirely not feminine, not like the both of them cared. Chat continued to look at her like she had lost her mind. “Then don’t bet things with friends that you wouldn’t do them with!”

“You know that’s not what I’m talking about. You know that of all of my friends I would love to-- uh-- anyway,” Chat groaned to himself. He was digging a bigger hole for himself already. He used a knuckle to push up against his cheek to attempt to get a stuck kernel from out in between his teeth, and struggled to not use his claws as toothpicks to pull it out. Plagg would have his head if he used his suit for anything as gross as picking food out of his mouth. “I’m talking about the elephant in the room.”

Ah yes. The  _ elephant. _ The elephant that was the  _ Oh god Marinette I am so sorry for walking in on you with just a towel around your body because you just got out of the shower-- do you want me to go outside while you change-- no? No?? You don’t mind if I hide out ontop of your bed while you find clothes? What in the shit? Since when was that a thing? _ That had happened  _ hours _ before this whole situation-- and the  _ other  _ elephant that was  _ yeah you’re in love with somebody and I’m in love with another somebody but you’re honestly my favorite person in the world and I don’t mind being your best friend in the whole world for my entire lifetime because you’re super fun and super cool and I have so much fun being with you and you make funny faces whenever you’re working on something and it makes my heart sing because holy shit that’s super cute-- _ and the funny thing about that  _ particular  _ elephant was that the  _ both _ of them thought this way. Marinette routinely looked out for him whenever she sat down on the balcony and waited for him whenever she was up there-- Chat knew this because Marinette had been adamant on telling him so. Chat Noir’s heart warmed up to the idea. He loved Marinette’s company.

But that did not at  _ all _ explain as to why Marinette had said yes to this bet. Or why Chat Noir had suggested the idea in the first place.

“The  _ elephant--” _ Marinette pulled the bowl of popcorn out of his desperate hands, holding it as far away from his as possible. He had been eating out his feelings without even realizing. It wasn’t his fault he had no idea why she had said. And it wasn’t his fault that he ate his feelings out all the time. It was a habit that he didn’t really exactly know where it originated. Maybe it came from the fact that he  _ always _ ate out his feelings whenever he was in Marinette’s room. “The elephant doesn’t exist.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, of  _ course _ it exists.”

“Chat Noir, you silly boy.” She tsked, “it only exists only because you want it to.”

“There’s no need to get all philosophical on me.” Chat pouted, settling back onto the bed and sighing. The ceiling looked so interesting to him right now. His brain continued to do flip-flops and elaborate parkour in his head in an attempt to understand why Marinette had actually agreed. “I don’t even know why I suggested the bet. Forget it.”

“Why am I going to forget about a bet that I’m dying to see the results for?” God-- Chat Noir was  _ not _ a smart man. Teenager. Whatever. Someone had once told him that once he had to start shaving his face regularly it meant that he was a man-- whatever  _ that _ meant-- so maybe Chat  _ was  _ a man. Just not a smart one. So yes, he was  _ not _ a smart man. Anyway. Once Marinette got a whiff of an idea that she was going to win a bet, all hell broke loose. She wouldn’t rest until she was certain there was a winner and a loser in this situation. Even though it was already  _ decided-- _ Chat Noir didn’t take losing so seriously anymore. His luck was just like that. Losing to Marinette was just like second nature-- Marinette truly had a gift for this type of stuff.

Chat groaned. What chance would he even have attempting to complete this bet? The moment he got close to Marinette he blushed like a preteen attempting to tell their crush about all of the weird things they thought about every time they went to bed because they were so in love-- this was a very specific analogy for Chat because he had accidentally been in the same situation many times before-- most often in front of Ladybug. Chat hid his face behind his popcorn-greasy hands. “The universe has already decided that I’ve lost.”

“Not much of a fight,” Marinette tsked. She had that tone of voice that clearly indicated she was playing around, “How do you ever consider yourself a fighter? How do you consider yourself a hero?”

“Are you kidding?” Chat hummed, peeking a glance to her from underneath one of his hands. He gave her the same tone of voice.  “I went through fifteen racing cups with you! That’s sixty races! That’s a lot of races for someone to not be considered a fighter!”

Marinette laughed in retaliation, striking chords deep in Chat’s aching heart. Why was she so  _ pretty? _ God he was an  _ idiot _ for making this bet. He wouldn’t be able to face himself in the mirror.  _ I bet you I can kiss you-- _ yeah right-- like he could get anywhere near Marinette without blushing like crazy. Like that was possible. Sometimes he couldn’t even look at her without having to go take a breather. It wasn’t  _ his _ fault Chat falls in love with anyone who remotely gives him some type of kindness. And Marinette was everything in that department. Marinette was the most wonderful person in the world. Something was definitely in this popcorn. God-- how would he even  _ begin _ to win this bet? “You may be a fighter and a superhero, but you’re definitely a coward.”

“Excuse me!” Chat leaned over to his side with a breathless laugh, his tail flicking in the air in a genuine surprise. “Are you kidding? Me? A coward?”

“A  _ genuine _ coward.” Marinette nodded her head, giggling, placing down the bowl of popcorn down on the floor and tossing her own control down in between them. The wheel spun a bit on the covers, doing a little dance. Marinette glanced up with friendly fire in her eyes, her eyeshines sparkling like crystals. Chat was entranced. “You’re a  _ genuine _ coward.”

“I am  _ not _ a coward.” He pouted in mock anger. How dare she! Chat Noir was nothing but brave. And a little bit of an idiot. Okay, a lot of an idiot. But that had nothing to do with the topic at hand. He knew that Marinette was attempting to get him riled up and actually attempt the bet-- he could see it in her  _ gorgeous  _ eyes-- how they actually expressed genuine amusement other than actual frustration with his actions. And how relaxed she looked. She looked like she knew that she was actually going to win this argument and he was actually going to try.

Marinette laughed scrubbing her palms again on her pajama pants. Maybe her hands were  _ really _ greasy from the food. “If you’re not a coward, then how come you’re backing out on your own bet?”

“I’m not a  _ coward-- _ I just know a fight I’ll lose when I see one.”

“That’s called being a coward!”

“That’s called knowing to when you’ve lost!”

“So you know that I’ll win this bet?”

Chat frowned a bit. “Of course you will, Princess. You  _ always _ win bets.”

“Only because I try to win bets.”  Marinette shrugged, not at all surprised by this knowledge. “What if I  _ don’t try _ for this one?”

“Then the win wouldn’t feel right-- wait-- why do you  _ not want _ to try?” Chat Noir blinked slowly. What in the world was Marinette getting at?

Marinette gave him a stare. Chat didn’t understand why. “You’re impossible.”

“You actually want me to kiss you.” Chat’s eyes widened in surprise. That didn’t make any sense. That didn’t make any sense at  _ all. _ What about the boy Marinette had been talking about for ages! What about that boy that had the heart full of gold and the eyes full of forests and-- everything else Marinette said about the ‘love of her life’! She had said a lot. Marinette and Chat always talked about their crushes to one another. It was almost a natural thing to start out the conversation with ‘so much crush’... and it didn’t even matter the context. It was such a natural thing to do and say after years. Chat Noir was a hopeful idiot to ever think that Marinette’s crush would change to be him. He hadn’t even realized when he had stopped talking about Ladybug and started about Marinette to her own face-- but Marinette hadn’t even realized. It was like she was completely blind to the idea that he was totally and freely describing her to her own face. Seriously-- how was she this blind? Did Chat Noir had to spell it out to her that he was completely and totally interested in her?

Marinette faltered. “Well-- I mean--”

“Oh my god.” It was Chat’s turn to give  _ the look.  _ He stared hard.  _ “You want me to kiss you.” _

“I-- kinda?-- sort of?--” Marinette bit her lip. “Look, it’s not a big deal if you kiss me, it’s all I’m saying. You don’t  _ have _ to. But I certainly wouldn’t mind placing the bet with you.”

“Why do you even want me to kiss you?”

“Because I want to see if you can-- actually do it?” She was lying! Marinette attempted to return the look-- the  _ look-- _ but it was full of uncertainty of her own. She was blushing. Hard. Chat didn’t know whether to gasp or choke on his own spit. Holy shit. “See if you-- uh-- have the balls to kiss me?”

“Oh I do--” Chat coughed, “I mean-- well-- I could totally kiss you.”

“Right.” Marinette nodded, completely ignoring the placid look on her face. It dawned on Chat that it looked like Marinette had believed her lie had worked. “Which is why I wanted to take this bet.”

“So that you could lose.”

“Essentially.”

“You want me to kiss you.”

“You’ve said this already.” Marinette snorted, attempting to regain her confidence back. “Are you a broken record now, kitty?”

“I’m a little bit stuck on that part.” Chat gave her a helpless smile, exposing his canines. He gestured to himself. “It’s not every day a pretty girl like you admits that they wouldn’t mind being on the receiving end of this.”

Marinette laughed loudly, cupping a hand over her mouth to muffle herself. People were sleeping in this apartment, after all! Chat Noir wasn’t supposed to be over at all. It was a miracle her parents didn’t ask about who she was talking to the night before-- at least Chat’s luck hadn’t run out  _ that _ badly. She kept her voice down to a whisper. “Oh yes, you’re a national treasure-- I can’t believe that none of the ladies in France have plucked you right out of the streets to get a better look at you.”

“You’re the only girl that does that,” Chat continued grinning. “Feeding me and housing me for a couple of hours every week? You’re the only person in this entire city that does that, Marinette. There’s no one else.”

“No one?” She didn’t look convinced. To be fair, Chat Noir didn’t really help with the fact that he flirted with anyone out in the open whenever he got the chance to. But it was for his fans! He couldn’t let them down like that.

“Are you joking? Do you know how fast I jump at the opportunity to be here with you?” Chat, for some reason, didn’t feel at all embarrassed shoving that information out into the open like ripping off a nasty bandaid. He hope that didn’t come back to bite him in the ass. “I don’t talk to anyone except you in this suit. Well, and Ladybug. But that’s a given.”

“No other girl wanted to house a stray cat, hmmm?” She snorted again, licking her fingers clean of butter and salt. Chat tried his hardest not to stare. “Lucky me.”

_ “Very _ lucky you.” Chat Noir nodded, grinning wider. “I am the most  _ perfect _ house cat. The most gentlemanly of men! The pure epitome of a  _ good _ dude.”

She reached over to flick his bell with her index finger. She placed a stern hand down on the bed near him, and he watched with wide eyes as her muscles strained underneath that perfect skin. He tried not to sweat over the sight. He could feel perspiration starting across his entire body from the sight of those strong hands. How was Marinette so  _ strong?  _ “Yeah, I bet. What a good person you are, Chat-- sneaking into a girl’s room during the night to lay on her bed--”

“--Playing  _ video games--” _ Chat interjected. He lifted a hand up in his defence. “I haven’t made any moves on you at all!”

Marinette faltered, pushing her hair off her shoulders. “Okay. So maybe you have a point.  _ Maybe.” _

Chat left that comment marinate for a while in between them. He liked letting the fact that he was right sit in the air for a little bit-- his luck didn’t let him afford anything else, really. “So you actually… want to go through with this bet?”

She hummed to herself, grabbing the last of the popcorn out of the bowl with her other hand, reaching back behind her without looking, remaining eye contact with him. Chat couldn’t tell for the life of him what she was thinking about. “Uhm, obviously. I wouldn’t miss it for the world. I wanna see what you’re capable of.”

He winked at her, sending Marinette into a snorting fit, holding her hands over her mouth to make sure that none of her food fell out of her mouth while she laughed. They were in the part of the night where they laughed at any little bit of dumb jokes. Chat loved this part of the night with her. It was always the most relaxing and enjoyable part. Chat glanced down and gestured to the remotes in between them. “We’ll worry about this bet later. Wanna continue playing? I promise I’ll play fair.”

“Fine, fine. And I  _ hope _ you play fair!” She gave him the red remote, moving her own cursor across the screen to wake up the dimmed TV screen. She pressed a couple of buttons on her remote to make a new racing cup, and they both rushed to find their favorite characters to race with on the tracks, as well as their vehicles. Chat Noir laughed to himself when Marinette passed all of the normal sized characters to pick a baby version of one of the main characters. Chat himself picked one of the heaviest sized characters, a giant transparent blob that was apparently a ‘ghost’ in the game. He picked a motorcycle that didn’t match in the slightest with the character, waiting for Marinette to pick in between multiple types of bikes herself. After much deliberation, Marinette settled on an orange one, pressing a couple of buttons to start the race. “How about rainbow road as the first track?”

“You’re killing me.” Chat groaned. He hated rainbow road. He always fell off.

Marinette grinned at him. “Life is rough when you pick a heavy karter.”

“Two can play at that game. Put bowser’s castle on there, too! A light karter like yours won’t last when I ‘accidentally’ kick you off the stage over and over.”

Marinette groaned in a direct response. “No way. That’s the only one I’m terrible at in general.”

“And the only one I’m really good at! It evens out!”

“Okay. Alright. In that case, the rest will be random,” Marinette flipped between a couple of windows on the screen, changing the settings so it was a more even match. At this point it was always neck and neck between the two of them-- and it was  _ always _ led up to the final round, where by some miracle Marinette would single-handedly smack him into the floor in a win. Chat was thoroughly pwned. He watched lazily as she fired up the racing cup, humming the beginning noise quietly.

The race took longer for Chat Noir than he had wanted-- as a heavy karter in the game, his turns were much wider than the track allowed. It was ridiculous. Everytime someone passed him, they would nudge him to the side just enough so that when he had to turn, he’d unapologetically fall off. He  _ hated _ rainbow road. 

“What the-- come  _ on!  _ That wasn’t even fair!” He whisper yelled to the screen, mindful to not accidentally wake anyone up in the apartment. He had been hit by a shell  _ somehow. _

“Oh, was that mine?” Marinette hummed politely, as if she was totally innocent. “Oh, I’m sorry.”

“Princess, if I wasn’t so wrapped up in this game right now, I would give you some stern words about being the most conniving little-- oh  _ come on--” _

He growled in frustration in the track, hating with all of his passion every single npc character that passed him by. Every item block that passed by gave him the most ridiculous of items-- a banana peel that was worth  _ nothing _ in last place-- or the golden mushroom to speed him up in the  _ worst stage to speed up in-- _ Chat nearly wept when he saw Marinette’s screen cross the finish line for the third time in a succession while he was still on his second lap. Rainbow road was the worst.

Rainbow road was the  _ worst. _

“You okay, kitty?”

“Peachy,” Chat groaned as the game stopped him from continuing the race. He scrunched his nose in despair. Tossed his controller next to him on the bed in more despair. Wrung out his hands in grievance. “Everything’s  _ peachy.” _

Marinette poked him with an elbow, attempting to give some sympathy. It didn’t work out very well in her favor because Chat could see that she was attempting not to laugh hard at his dismay. “Don’t worry Chat, that’ll be me in a couple of seconds.”

He gave her a look, grabbing the controller back up from next to him with a bit of more energy. “Alright, get ready to get tossed into the lava any chance I get, pretty princess. I’m going to _destroy_ you this round.”  
“I think-- I think you’re going to _lose_ this round.” She pressed the accept button, letting the stage start up the race with the familiar beepings. The moment the race started, Chat made it his absolute goal to get as close to Marinette’s character in the game as possible, just so that at the right times he could just nudge-- “Hey!”

\--Her off the stage.

“Didn’t like that, did you, Princess?”

Marinette grumbled, watching her character get back on the track. “Oh it is  _ on.” _

“Your own fault for picking a light karter,” Chat taunted, leaning forward in bed as if it would help him in the race. He twisted his wrist as fast as possible to avoid a lava pit himself. That was a  _ close _ one. “You should’ve picked a medium karter.”

“Oh yeah? Well you should’ve-- ugh-- I don’t know-- whatever,” Marinette swore, twisting her own controller to the side to avoid Chat’s advances. It was difficult to ignore Chat’s giant character on the screen though. Marinette growled again in frustration when she fell into another pit. “This is  _ impossible.” _

“I feel like this is totally doable,” Chat shrugged.

“I wonder why?”

Chat Noir nearly whooped and hollered the moment he passed the finish line again for the third time in  _ first place. _ He made sure to clench his jaw to make sure his voice wasn’t super loud, and he grinned widely at Marinette’s troubles to make it into a passing position. He totally and completely  _ pwned _ her. “It’s hard isn’t it, Princess?”

“This was the worst round I’ve ever had.” Marinette sighed when she got second to last place, barely passing the npc. “I don’t think  _ anything _ could compare to this.”

“So, what was that about not being able to win this round?” Chat hummed. He sat back down after a good minute of fistbumping in excitement. The tv flickered into it’s dim state, indicating that it was in low power mode. It was dimmer in her room now. It was always easier to hide behind slight darkness. Chat knew that he needed all the luck in the world for what he was going to attempt next.

Marinette laughed, ignoring the dulled tv screen. “Okay, I’m  _ sorry,  _ you  _ won this particular stage only,” _

Chat leaned back, taking a good look at her. Made a gesture to his ear and cupped it, clearly indicating that he wanted Marinette to speak up from her mumbling. Tsked quietly in her direction. “What was that? I couldn’t hear you?”

“You’re pointing at the wrong ear!” Marinette flicked his suit’s ear, the one his hand was currently cupping. “You don’t even hear from those ears!”

“That’s not  _ true--” _ Chat snickered with her, “I actually  _ do _ use these ears.”

“Oh yeah? What do you hear, then?”

“I hear that there’s a princess nearby attempting to  _ bullshit _ her way into not complimenting her fellow adversary in a game of mario kart.” He grinned.

She gave him a stare. “You-- I-- What? I already  _ complimented _ you--”

“No you didn’t.”

“Fine, fine--” She rolled her eyes. Pushed her hair off her shoulder again. Placed her controller down and wiped her palms across her pants like she had done before. Chat watched with eager eyes. “You did a great job, kitty.”

“Come closer,” Chat gestured to the open space between them. “I can’t hear you correctly.”

“You have two pairs of ears and you still can’t hear me?”

“This alley cat needs you to get closer so he can hear better.”

She gave him another look-- not  _ the _ look-- but a  _ look _ nonetheless. One that read  _ you’re totally attempting to convince me that you’re deaf, aren’t you? _ But Chat couldn’t figure out if Marinette realized why he was actually asking her to get closer. It looked like she  _ didn’t _ realize-- which was good news because Chat was attempting to suck in a huge breath-- Marinette sat closer, clearing her throat so that her words were clearer-- “You did a great job, kitty.”

This was the moment.  _ This _ was the moment he had been working up the courage to do for months. For  _ years. _ Forever. Ever since he came over the first time seeing so many pictures of him plastered up against the wall with cheap thumb tacks or tape-- cut out pictures from magazines or selfies that Marinette and Adrien had taken together. It’d been  _ years _ since that encounter. This was the moment. The  _ moment. _ So, as any not-smart man would do, Chat decided that this exact moment was the  _ exact _ moment that their relationship would change. He leaned forward, right into her personal space. Chat tried to ignore the video game remote digging into the side of his hip, reaching one of his hands toward her shoulder. He gave her about a second or two to figure out his intention so she could back away-- and when Marinette didn’t budge at  _ all--  _ in fact, if Chat didn’t know any better, Marinette was  _ blushing-- _ Chat Noir slipped his eyes shut.

He slipped his eyes shut and kissed her.

Marinette responded well to it. She pushed up against him, her hand resting on top of his that was keeping him propped up. She kissed him  _ hard-- _ breathing a whole new feeling into him. He’d take care of that subject later. Chat made a noise in surprise at the ferocity of her kiss, almost loud enough to be considered a yelp. He hadn’t-- he hadn’t imagined that she would kiss him back like that.

It was supposed to be a soft kiss. It wasn’t supposed to be like  _ this-- _ their teeth were clicking together-- Marinette was almost pushing him backwards from how close she was.

Chat pulled back like a whip, eyes wide. Oh god. Oh _god._ He had totally-- he had-- he had _totally--_ _kissed her--_ and she had-- _kissed back--_ “Oh shit.”

“Finally.” She laughed, as if everything was clicking into the correct place. She bit her lip at him-- the ones that were  _ soft-- _ the ones that felt like heaven against  _ his-- _ the ones that were so red because he kissed her-- he  _ kissed  _ her-- holy shit-- “God,  _ finally.” _

“Oh holy shit.” Chat’s brain did some more parkour in the vat of his skull. “You actually wanted to kiss me.”

Marinette covered her mouth-- her  _ pretty mouth-- _ with a hand. She was smiling so hard. And blushing--  _ god-- _ Marinette’s eyes were twinkling so pretty while she blushed dark-- Chat really wanted to kiss her again. Infectious laughter started to spill out of her. “Wasn’t that  _ apparent?” _

_ “You wanted to kiss me.” _ Chat gaped. A blush rose from, starting from underneath his mask and covering his entire face. If it wasn’t for the suit, Marinette would’ve been able to tell that it was his entire  _ body _ that was stained in a blush. Chat felt like a fish out of water from how out of place he felt. How was  _ he  _ supposed to know that Marinette wanted to kiss him? What  _ signs _ had she given him? He couldn’t find any!

Marinette continued to laugh. So pretty. “Yes, you silly kitty.”

“I’ve been wanting to do that for years--” Chat pushed the remotes to the side, settling as close as physically possible to Marinette. “And I didn’t even know that you reciprocated.”

Marinette couldn’t stop  _ laughing-- _ “Yes oh my god I’ve felt like this for years too--”

Oh shit. Oh  _ shit. _ Chat Noir wasn’t a smart man at all.

At  _ all. _

**Author's Note:**

> wanna join a miraculous ladybug discord server? look no further! click [here!](https://discord.gg/MJTFPcN)
> 
> here's my [tumblr!](https://fragileizy.tumblr.com)
> 
> love you lots!! see you later!
> 
> FragileIzy


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